I've been watching the transformation of the former Ladybug Ladybug on 24th Street as it evolved into DAVIDsTEA, a Montreal-based tea outfitter bringing their teas to neighborhood spots to a few US cities. They opened just last week, and today I had an opportunity to pay a visit and meet with co-founder David Segal himself.

The space is bright and cheery, flanked on one side by a bar where customers can sidle up to sniff and sample the 150-plus tins of teas on the wall. As I entered, the place was hopping.

I have to admit that I was skeptical. Passing by on previous days, staffers were hawking samples of some of their quirky blends involving chocolate, nuts or what have you. I'm something of a purist. I like tea, as in tea tea. The idea of tea called Cherry Cola or Banana Dream Pie did not appeal. Of course, many things I would consider tea tea are flavored teas -- Early Grey springs to mind -- but somehow these seemed to cross a line.

But as we chatted and he pulled down a dozen or so tins for me to smell, I was pleased to note that they do have tea tea. Inquiring about my tastes, he pulled down two unadulterated greens, a Chinese Dragonwell and a Japanese Gyokuro Yamashiro, and a black tea from Nepal, with slightly smoky notes, and offered me a cup of whatever I'd like. dpaul brought back some gyokuro from a business trip to Japan last year, and I find myself going back to it again and again, so I chose that. Apparently I have good taste, as the gyokuro is the most expensive tea in the shop. I can pick 'em!

But even if they aren't my, um, cup of tea, I was curious about some of the flavored teas. And so I sniffed a variety of blends like fruity Alpine Punch, an apparently very popular Chocolate Chili Chai, and super-nutty Brazillionaire with, yes, Brazilian nuts.

This much is clear: They're having fun with it. And by producing these quirky blends, and there are plenty of them rotating seasonally, they're making tea accessible and interesting to a much broader audience. The customer who ends up going for a bag of Ice Cream Cake, made with carob, white chocolate and actual bits of ice cream (I guess, freeze dried?), might be the same customer that drops seven bucks on a Venti Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks. But maybe, just maybe, it'll make them try something else the next time. Like tea tea. Which, luckily, they also have.

Where DAVIDsTEA really shines is in the gift market. For example, they've got these 24 Days of Tea advent calendar packages, with a tin of a different tea each day. So, you know, cute, right? Plus various and sundry other gifty collections, packaged like boxes of premium chocolates. And then there's the Cocktail Collection, with ingredients and recipes to make five tea-based cocktails. Hello, hostess gift! Sure beats a bottle of wine.

David graciously sent me off with a bag of the Nepal black to try. Perhaps one day I'll make my way up to tasting some of the more creative blends. I may never acquire the taste for Birthday Cake Rooibos, but I'm willing to give it a go.

So yesterday morning I had a meeting that didn't happen. As I had planned to meet my friend Hugh at Ferry Plaza for lunch and farmer's marketing, I had a little time to kill. Since I was going to end up at the Ferry Building in the end anyway, I decided to kill that time there.

I'm chagrinned to admit that I don't spend as much time at the Ferry Building, nor frequent that farmer's market, as much as I ought. So, when I do go, it's always a series of new discoveries and unexpected delights. The Imperial Tea Court was of course not a total surprise, but I had never actually stopped and had tea there before. Tea and time killing are a match made in heaven.

I opted for the gaiwan presentation of Imperial pu-erh tea. For the next 30 minutes or so, I enjoyed the sublime activity of incrementally adding hot water to my tea leaves, paddling with the lid, and sipping the tea through the gap between the cocked lid and the cup itself (this takes a little getting used to at first). All this while watching the world pass by in the main concourse of the Ferry Building. I liked the pu-erh tea -- distinctly earthy, almost musty, but once the strongest steepings faded, it opened up to a gentle grassy flavor with hints of clove and cinnamon. The only thing I didn't really love about the place is that the tables are a tad tall for the seats -- or the seats too short for the tables, I guess depending on your perspective -- so I felt even shorter than usual. A small quibble.

Hugh and I had lunch at Boulette's Larder, sitting outside on the back of the building. I had the pulled pork sandwich (as did at least one person at every table in eyesight). Y'all know by now how I love the pulled pork, and this did the trick. However, it's more like a cubano -- not vinegary and sweet like barbecue, and on a fluffy roll. Hit the spot.

One of the best things about working from home (even when you're unemployed) is the ability to hang out in your sweats, make a nice pot of tea and stare out at the miserable and seemingly neverending rain. Sprinkle of sugar, cloud of milk. It's pure comfort.

I'm nearing the end of a collection of teas that we purchased four and a half years ago (!) in Granada, Spain. The labrynthine cobblestone streets of the Albaicìn, the old Moorish district, amid whitewashed buildings and signs more in Arabic than in Spanish, felt exotic and exhilarating. We were enticed into a small shop by beautiful music, again infused with Arabic tones. It was a tea shop, the walls lined with canisters of hundreds of varieties of tea. We bought several varieties: teas with flower petals, with dried fruits, with licorice root (which is what remains, and what I'm having now); we had no idea what kinds we were getting, and didn't really care. We also bought the CD right from his player -- Alif by Omar Faruk Tekbilek. I remains a favorite to this day. As I sit here drinking one of the last pots of exotic Moorish tea, listening to that album, I am flooded with memories of balmy October nights in Granada, of storms over the Alhambra, and of lightly sweet b'stilla, jamòn iberico and Canasta sherry. Sure beats gloomy skies and chilly rain in San Francisco.

Food, like travel, can be a transportive and transformative experience. It's certainly my favorite way to revisit destinations short of a plane ticket back.

My favorite part of the food section every week in the Chronicle is Taster's Choice, where they compare broadly available products for quality. This week, stepping a bit out of the box, they compare brands of genmai cha, green tea with toasted rice kernels. Genmai happens to be my favorite tea, with the possible exception of lapsang souchong, although for entirely different reasons. I like green tea generally, but the addition of the toasted rice rounds out the grassy, astringent notes and makes it more balanced and satisfying.

Because the rice sometimes pops in the toasting process, making little white puffs, a friend of mine refers to it as popcorn tea, and the comparison is apt both in appearance and flavor.

The Chron picks Shirakiku. I guess I have a trip to 99 Ranch in my near future.